It seems like weeks have past since I last had the opportunity to write a post so let me give just a small update on the progress I have been making.

I am still eating a Whole 30 diet each day and it seems that I have reached a point where my body weight is dropping at a slower pace. I don’t think this has to do with the Whole 30 diet though. You see I have dedicated the month of May to a complete dedication to resistance exercises. I am lifting every single morning for the whole month. I know this is against the grain of anything taught by the coaches and trainers, but it is the way I am performing these exercises that makes the difference and keeps my in a position of not taking the risk of overtraining. So the end result is that I am slowly building back muscles to a point where I am gaining weight while burning fat which means that I shouldn’t see dramatic loses when I step on the scale.

I have 5 routines set up where I perform just one each morning.

Shoulders

Chest

Back

Legs

Arms

For each of these groups I am performing 3-4 different exercise where I am doing 3 sets and try to limit my reps to just around 12. When I can perform more than 12 I raise the weight just slightly at about 5-10 pounds the next time I perform the same routine. In essence what I am doing is slowly increasing muscle strength to a point where they are being just slightly challenged enough to build to a point where I experience little pain while noticing the resistance being performed.

This allows for the body to learn to adjust without injury to understand it has to perform and utilize both protein and body fat to meet the demands of the challenge. While doing this each day brings up an interesting question. What about cardio? I try to get on the treadmill at least 3 times per week after work and do a 2 mile fast paced walk. I don’t want to go past 2 miles but do find myself hitting 2 1/2 miles sometimes when I just don’t want to get off the treadmill or I am feeling that extra burst of energy. Too much cardio will create a demand for energy that could end up coming from the muscles and ends up taking away from all of the efforts made with resistance training. It should be just enough to utilize glucose left in the blood stream at the end of the day.

While I am building muscle I have made up my mind that I don’t want to use protein supplements. The body naturally absorbs just 8-10 grams of protein in just a 1 1/2 hour window after eating it. Anything which is not absorbed simply is converted to glucose or excreted. For body builders there is a whole science for getting around this like timing when you consume protein or utilizing added enzymes to assist with protein absorption, but for this old dude getting just enough naturally while creating a demand for protein through strength training is just enough to keep this Type II Diabetic in balance.

So what exactly is my ultimate goal here? Well, on a physical side striving to get my body mass index down to around 18 should teach my body to burn fat as fuel and this can only happen by limiting certain foods and not eating between meals. The exercise is just a small part, but a very important part of this goal. The secondary goal is actually more important than the first which is to reduce and keep my blood glucose in a safe range each day. Of course I could simply do this with just diet and medications, but what is the fun in that? No, if the human body has developed throughout millions of years to perform work then who am I to deny it this benefit. If I can reach a point where I can perform to close to a peak range each day I know that the added benefits will be tremendous. From the way I think to the way I feel each day and the added confidence that taking on any challenge to the possibility of taking on medical issues that could arise as I get older is enough to convince me that my chances of survival are that much higher.

As I work my way through this month I will complete my goal of strength training each day and will probably take it into the month of June. I know that sooner or later I will reach a point where I will have to take things to a new level where I just cannot keep increasing the weights on a consistent basis. It will be then where I may change my routine to something I do every other day as my body will certainly be demanding for rest periods between workouts. It will be then where I will readjust my workout routine and figure out what will work best.

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About SimpleLivingOver50

At 53 years old I am starting to realize how life changes both physically and emotionally. I strive for a life of simplicity. I am winning the battle with type II diabetes, created a plan to have all debt paid off in 4 years including the house, taking advantage of every opportunity to live life to it's fullest through adventures in nature, hiking, biking, loving and learning.

2 Responses to Month of May Full Resistance Challenge

That’s really interesting about protein (body only absorbing 8-10gms after eating) … Might explain why there are successful vegan body builders. The body can only absorb so much at one time so no need for a giant steak for example. I’ve heard good things about whole 30. Does it allow coffee? That’s the hardest thing I find to eliminate. Thanks for your blog 🙂

Keep on Keeping on

The idea of keep on keeping on is real. Even when you get to the point where you think that you have reached your potential, just keep moving forward and sooner or later you will reach the next stage of your mission. I suppose this applies to just about anything in life. I am sure that one day I will look back at all that I have accomplished and think that it wasn't too hard, hell, I look back now at where I am and where I was and think that it wasn't difficult. But the truth is that each step of the way feels difficult as we move forward into the unknown of our mission. The unknown knowledge, the unknown endurance and the unknown strength that we possess inside ourselves waiting to come out. I have beat the smoking habit, I will beat diabetes and I will arrive one day completely debt free. For this is my mission.